The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 2 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Religion
The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 2 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Iran -- Religion; Religions
They relate also, that _Chistápá_, the wife of Baharam Gul, in order
to put to the test the Muhammedan and Indian durvishes and saints,
came once among them who were assembled, and said: “Whoever will
loosen the bracelet of beads (called _Sámran_) upon my arm, without
betraying the least symptom of lust, he is a perfect saint.” All the
pretenders to perfect sanctity, Muselmans and Hindus, presented
themselves, but at the sight of Chistapa, they all were maddened with
love, such was the beauty of her face: at last the turn came to Jamen,
who approached her, and loosened the bracelet in a manner which, at
the same time, evinced his manly strength, and his complete command
over himself.[393] On that account, Jamen was proclaimed victorious
over all the Muselmans and Hindus. And they have a great number of
other similar stories.
Another sect, the _Jelalían_, are disciples of _Said Jelal_, of
Bokhára;[394] his sepulchre is in the village _Auch_, in the district
of _Sind_; these sectaries profess to be Shíáhs, whilst the Medárían
are _Sunís_, on which account they revile each other. The former know
of neither prayers nor fasts, nor any other practices of piety with
which the Sufís are occupied; they take a great deal of bang, and used
to eat snakes and scorpions. When the adepts among them see a snake,
they put it whole into their mouth and swallow it, saying: “This is a
fish of the holy Alí;” in eating a scorpion they remark: “This is a
prawn of Alí:” and the worms which are found in the water, they call
the little crabs of Alí. Like the Medárian, the Jelalían go naked, and
even in the severely cold season, wear no garment; they sit before the
fire like the Medárian, but do not wear matted hair; frequently they
shave four parts of their body, and lead a wandering life in the
world. Some of them bring every thing that they gain to their master,
and when they go for instruction to a preceptor, they deliver to him
whatever they possess in ready money and other property; after which
he presents them with a turban, and his list of saints; they wear that
on their heads, and hang this on their necks. They believe that, when
Jzráíl comes to take their soul, the turban, descending, covers their
eyes so that they may not behold the face of the angel of death, which
is exceedingly terrific. Their master looks every day for a new
connexion with a woman; whenever he knows of a fine girl among his
disciples, he orders trumpets to be blown, goes on horseback, and
betaking himself to their house, uses his own discretion with the
girl, whom he now and then takes to his own house, but never marries.
The author of this book asked one of the Jelális: “Hámed Mahommed,
your master, does he take the daughter of one of his disciples without
marrying her?” He answered: “The Safavian kings too take wives,
daughters, and sons of their disciples, who are highly pleased with
it, why should not Hámed Mahommed, who is truly the Khalif
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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